Off Campus: Top Featured

SU alumnus carves out his own niche in the Halloween business
By Nick DeSantis
October 27, 2012 - 9:40am
Ryan Wickstrand's Zombie Pumpkins celebrates a decade of pumpkin carving concepts.

Some people are completely content with carving the same old triangle-eyed, toothless grinning face into their Halloween pumpkin year after year. Others, however, are up for something a little more challenging.

“By the time I entered my teens, I started to do more advanced carvings with the patterns you find in store-bought kits,” said Zombie Pumpkins owner and lifelong Halloween enthusiast Ryan Wickstrand. “It didn't take long for me to get the urge to design my own, and I never looked back.”

Local film festival shines spotlight on socially conscious films
By Nick DeSantis
October 10, 2012 - 12:54am
Preview: The Syracuse International Film Festival to screen local and international films in various city locations.

Featuring the central New York premiere of a variety of films from all around the world, the ninth annual Syracuse International Film Festival will deliver four days of cinema bliss for casual movie lovers and film aficionados alike.

Pagan community leader organizes local festival, promotes tolerance
By Megan Paolone
September 17, 2012 - 12:31pm
Local software developer and pagan Kurt Hohmann coordinates the Central New York Pagan Pride Festival each year to educate the community about the faith.

The phrase “Born Again Pagan” steered Kurt Hohmann on to a new path in his life’s journey about 20 years ago.

After seeing the words emblazoned on a bumper sticker in Salem, Mass. on a trip with his wife, Hohmann decided to do a little exploring.

“I’d obviously heard the term ‘pagan’ before, but I was like, ‘Who would put that on their car and why?’” Hohmann, now 48 and the local coordinator of the Central New York Pagan Pride Festival, said.

A patriot's ride
By Chris Baker
November 3, 2011 - 4:12pm
The Patriot Guard Riders of New York saddle up on a regular basis to support our nation's troops.

When Pat Christensen returned home from duty in the Vietnam War he received no parade, no cheering and no outpouring of support. Rather, protestors spit on him. Others cursed at him. Some simply ignored a man who had just spent eighteen months overseas serving his country. Decades later, Christensen feels no veteran should suffer similar indignation. In 2007, he joined the Patriot Guard Riders.

Mercury more widespread in Great Lakes than thought
By Michele Maciejewski
October 11, 2011 - 12:47pm
Representatives from a team of more than 170 scientists, including SU Professor Charles Driscoll, announced their Great Lakes mercury study findings on Tuesday.

The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater resource in the world. They provide water, food, recreation, employment and transportation to more than 35 million people and they have suffered mercury pollution since 1850.

No one's home
By jpdavenp
July 28, 2009 - 9:57am
The number of vacant houses in Syracuse continues to grow, despite falling prices and concerned community organizations.

Gangs. Drug dealers. Litter. These are some of the problems Carolyn Evans-Dean has dealt with, living in a neighborhood packed with vacant houses, she said.

“These are neighborhoods that have pretty much been abandoned,” Evans-Dean said. “They’ve been left to undesirables. Nobody has been policing these areas and they are places where people have just let things slide.”

The Forgotten
By jpdavenp
May 26, 2009 - 11:47am
The Hancock Housing area, located near Syracuse's Hancock Airport, has been abandoned for years.

The Hancock Air base in Syracuse, NY used to be the hub of the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) northeast operations. The military installation housed thousands of soldiers, and their families, but as time wore on, the need for a NORAD base in Syracuse diminished, and in 1984, the base was shut down.

Although the government has provided tax incentives to increase business activity in the area, only some small industries seem to be calling part of the old air base home. The housing area where the soldiers and their families used to live has been left to rot.